General Information/ Customs
1. There are 77 different provinces in Thailand
2. This means basically every new city is also a new province
3. Thai people do not like feet, so don't point with them, or touch anything other then shoes, and the ground with them
4. Opposite of the feet, the head is precious. So do not touch other peoples heads. It is rude
5. Religion and the monarch are part of literally everything in Thailand
6. Thai people love white skin
7. Thai people hate the sun
8. There is this thing called a Thai kiss. Don't be afraid when you get one. Basically the only way to explain it is a really intense sniff
9. There are no sidewalks
10. Two lanes of traffic actually means four lanes
11. When in the north of Thailand there is no such thing as a straight road
12. From Chiangmai to Pai there is a road that has 762 curves. It takes about 3 hours to get there but is only about 80kms away
13. You do not see elephants roaming around
14. But you do see chickens, cats, dogs, lizards and sometimes the rare rat
15. Cigarettes on the tv are blurred out, but you can see all the live action blood and guts you want on the news
16. Riding in the bed of a truck is normal, don't be concerned when you see about fifteen people in the back going down the super highway
17. People will chew with their mouths open
18. They will also talk with food in their mouths
19. But make sure to cover your mouth when using a tooth pick
20. No one washes there hands after going to the bathroom
21. There is no toilet paper, only a garden hose.
School
22. When talking to a teacher you should be physically lower then them. This means most of the time you must kneel to talk to your teachers23. When passing someone older then you in the hallway make sure to wai to them
24. In most schools you do not wear shoes into the classroom
25. Sometimes you don't wear shoes at all in school (yay for really really dirty feet)
26. Virtually everyone buys lunch at school. It is rare for someone to bring food from home
27. Every school has uniforms, even university
28. Instead of handing in assignments, students hand in there entire notebooks
29. There is an assembly every morning
30. At morning assembly be prepared to sing the national anthem, pray and say some other stuff that i honestly still don't understand (oh how I love the old Thai language)
31. It is not abnormal for a Thai teacher to just randomly cut off some boy students hair if it is to long
32. Student bathrooms are probably the nastiest things on this entire planet. I do not believe that they are cleaned all year. So ask your advisor if it is okay to use the staff bathroom
34. Every single student takes notes the exact same way. No questions asked
35. Students are passive about learning here, they may study a lot, but there hands are held through the entire process.
36. There is little room from imagination in school
37. School is all about memory and there is little to no application of what you have learned
38. Example of #37. Memorize the periodic tables first 5 elements of every group and then recite them. But never will you do a chemistry lab.
39. Do not be surprised when random cats or dogs come into your classroom. They are usually friendly.
Laws, Government, and The Monarch
40. There is indeed a military coup.
41. No the country is not dangerous or scary because of this.
42. It is illegal to talk ill of the Royal Family
43. For the month of December most people wear yellow to celebrate the Kings birthday
44. The current king was crowned in 1946.
45. He holds the record for the longest reign in the modern day monarchy
46. It is illegal to step on a bill or coin, because it has the kings face on it
47. The king and queen currently live in a hospital in Bangkok where they have lived for the past five years
48. The King has a bad cold and he is making a recovery- says every Thai Person
49. I don't think there are any traffic laws. Whats so ever.
50. It is not required that you move out of the way for an ambulance, police car or firetruck.
51. I don't know about anywhere else but in Chiangmai, the officers part of the military coup are really friendly and great people to talk too.
Food
52. It is nearly impossible to remember all the names of the food you eat.
53. Each region of Thailand has its own style of food
55. The food in Thailand is either unbelievably delicious, or absolutely awful. There is no in-between
56. Koi Soy (spicy noodle thing) eat it. Always
57. Pad Thai is delicious but you will get bored of it
58. Massemann Curry (chicken, red curry and potatoes) is life
59. People don't eat with chopsticks
60. We eat with a fork and a spoon. No knife
61. Kha Kai (coconut milk soup) is real good. I can never get enough
62. Prad Praew Wan (sweet and sour stir fry) will forever be one of my favourites
63. Fruit and vegetables are always fresh here
64. There are no chemical laws for farming. So make sure to wash it well.
65. You will eat rice with everything
66. They love to fry stuff
67. They do not get rid of the fat on meat
68. Roti sounds strange, fried dough, an egg, possibly a banana, a buttload of condensed sweetened milk and a scoop of sugar. Sounds strange as heck but don't knock it tell you try it. This is the reason I have gained 5kgs.
69. Be prepared to try strange things
70. Do not ask what something is until you try it
71. Sometimes your best option is to close your eyes and eat
72. They love eating butter
73. They love processed food that doesn't need to be refrigerated. You just need to pick it up off the shelf at 711
74. If you are planning on staying an extended amount of time consider buying calcium pills. They eat very little of it.
75. Although lots of food is spicy, they also have lot of sweet foods.
76. Sticky rice goes good with everything
77. Fake Chinese food in north america is often much better then the fake chinese food severed in Thailand
78. Fish come with their heads on, also often they still have scales and have not been de boned. Just eat around it.
79. They don't refrigerate eggs.
80. Rice, eggs, pork, shrimp, chicken and fish are staple foods
81. Moo Ping (pork on a stick) is delicious, but often the bottom piece is just a big chunk of fat.
82. I don't mean to scare you with these facts. Thai food is amazing, eat it.
Important Langauge Skills
83. If your skin is white you will be called farang. It doesn't matter if they know your name.
84. Do not be offended by the word farang it is not suppose to be offensive it is just how they identify you.
85. Sleepy and tired mean completely different things
86. If you are sleepy it means you want to sleep
87. If you are tired to means you probably worked out to hard
88. They don't understand the difference between brother, uncle, and cousin
89. If someone is older then you, put pee before saying their name
90. If someone is younger then you put nawng before their name
91. Everyone in Thailand is a big family. So you may call the lady severing you coffee aunty.
92. If you don't know someones name, guess if they are older then you or younger then you.Then just call them Pee or Nawng
93. The Thai alphabet is long, but don't let it scare you. Once you put some work into it reading and writing it isn't that bad.
94. The tones and vowel lengths are hard. My best advice is just say the word, and see if they understand. If they don't say it with a different tone. They will eventually get it.
95. If you are a girl you will use the word ka at the end of your sentence
96. If you are a boy you will use krap at the end
97. Ka and Krap have no meaning but it is polite
98. You will also hear na at the end of lots of sentences. This also means nothing. It is just fun to say, and is considered to make your sentences less serious.
99. The language is really simplified. for example:
I am going by car : Pai Rot (go car)
Advice For Future Exchange Students
100. Remember it is very disrespectful to talk back or disobey someone who is older then you
101. Unless you never use Facebook like me, consider making a new page just for Thai people
102. Thai people love to take pictures, especially with the exchange students. You will be a professional model by the end of your exchange.
103. Rotary here is not always gender equal, it is unfortunate, but it is part of the culture
104. You are on exchange to learn the culture, not to change it
105. But that doesn't mean you can't teach them about your own culture
106. Make friends with rebound students, they are incredible
107. They do things very differently here, and it isn't just natural to adjust too it. You may need to work at it
108. Try your hardest to stay positive
109. If you have a problem, talk to someone about it. But Thai people are usually not super straight forward about things, so just be careful with wording.
110. Sa Bai Sa Bai (everything is all good) is the Thai attitude. So if you are having serious problems and talking to a Thai person about them is not helping, don't be afraid to contact someone from back in your home country
111. It is very common for Thai youth to be shy, so you need to put yourself out there. They will not come to you. You need to go to them.
112. The first few days of school every single person will just stare at you.
Random and Stuff I Forgot To Add Earlier
113. There are no drying machines
114. You do not wash your undergarments with your clothes they are washed separately
115. If you are a tourist things here are very cheap
116. If you are living on what a Thai person makes it is very expensive here
117. They do not respect copy right or patent laws here. So when you see ads for Victoria Secret swimsuits, do not expect the store to have anything similar to that.
118. It does not matter how thin you are, you will most likely be called fat
119. They think people for Europe and North America only eat bread and ham and cheese sandwiches
120. Thai people are usually really friendly, and very kind. I am more scared of foreigners then Thai people.
121. Yes it is normal for babies to be on motorcycles
122. Do not be scared when random people approach you and ask to take a photo with you, or of you.
123. Thai people do not understand sarcasm...
124. There are 711's everywhere
125. You could do your grocery shopping at a 711
126. They literally use plastic bags for everything. They put things in plastic bags, just so they can put it into another plastic bag.
127. The most common conversation topics are, "is it delicious?" and "is it beautiful?"
128. If you think people in North America are addicted to there phones, just wait tell you see the Thai people
129. Thai people love using stickers and emojis to talk online
130. Thai people do not wear thai pants. In fact most thai people usually dress quite formal. So Thai pants should really be called tourist pants. (I love these things, they are the comfiest pants in the whole world)
Conclusion
Life in Thailand is very very different from life back in Canada. For me it was a huge culture shock. Even to this day I continue to learn more and more about Thailand. I am in no way an expert on Thailand, and these facts are mostly bias, and from things I have experienced. Everyone will experience Thailand differently from the way I have. I love Thailand, it is a beautiful country and I wouldn't change the fact that I get to do my exchange here, for anything else in the world.
